A Little Bit Of Hope
by strawberrygirl2000
Summary: Set nearly a week after Percy's disappearance. A giftfic for Shiiki, who wanted a story where Annabeth meets Percy in a dream before she figures out where he has gone. Xoxo I hope you love it!


**A gift-fic for Shiiki. Happy New year!**

 **I did my best with the plot, hope I did a justice to your idea. And I am so so sorry I didn't post until now. I had a string f no wifi, and then we had this crazy snow storm! School was out today and tomorrow! XP**

Annabeth lay awake, the tears refused to fall. Percy had only been gone a week, but it felt like forever. Her day was less humorous, capture the flag was a tease, and meal times were solem. Her cabinmates kept their distance, the other campers gave her sympathetic looks, and Chiron tried to get her to resume normal life without him.

Annabeth would look at him and say, "A _normal_ life without Percy?" she would shake her head absentmindedly, wondering how he could imagine such a thing.

 _Wondering._ Annabeth sure as hell did a lot of wondering, thinking if you will. She spent hours in her cabin, reading book after book, scroll after scroll, searching for an answer. She spent hours trying to find a logical solution, an explanation for not only where Percy had gone but why she felt the way she did.

It felt like someone was literally _sitting_ on her chest, suffocating her, making her lose her will to keep trying.

Annabeth shook the thought away, turning over onto Percy's pillow to breathe in the scent that seemed to be fading rapidly.

She supposed that she could never really lose that scent, His room was full of so many things, and _his_ scent was primarily the ocean and Sally's cookies; Theoretically, all Annabeth had to do was get some of Sally's blue cookies and eat them at the beach, but it never seemed like enough. It never really said Percy.

She breathed in the scent again, trying to fall asleep, but her eyes refused to snap shut. Everytime she would get close to falling asleep, she would picture Percy during the battle of Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge, or when he was fighting Hyperion, even Luk- _Kronos._

She sighed, hauling herself out of Percy's bed. Her toes touched the cold stone floor and she flinched. She tiptoed across the floor to Percy's bathroom, going inside and shutting the door. Annabeth gazed in the mirror at her reflection. A week ago, if she had looked at _this_ reflection, she wouldn't have recognized herself.

There were enormous bags under her dull and weary eyes, her hair was possibly the messiest it had ever been, and her lips wouldn't turn upwards into a real smile even if she tried. The tears she had shed over the past few days had made her cheeks a red color, making her face look flushed constantly, and the crying made her eyes red and puffy when they weren't dull and dreary.

Annabeth turned the cold metal of the faucet, a stream of warm water poured from the spicket. She reached her calloused fingers under the water, cupping it into her palm. She put her face close to the sink, splashing the water on her face and rubbing it in.

After turning the water off, Annabeth switched the light off and creeped her way out of the bathroom. She had nearly made it to Percy's bunk when she heard someone call her name.

"Annabeth?"

She turned to see Nico. He was looking at her in a hopeful way, offering her a mug of something steaming hot. She tilted her head reaching her fingers out to grasp the ceramic mug.

It was hot to the touch, which Annabeth expected, and as she brought it close to her she smelled the sweetness of Hot Chocolate.

"Hot chocolate?" She whispered tiredly.

"Yeah," he said, avoiding eye contact, "B-Bianca used to make it for me when I couldn't sleep, something about the warmth making it easier to sleep or something."

Annabeth smiled gratefully, bringing the mug to her lips and letting the warm liquid enter her mouth. There was a tinge of mint inside, dancing along her tastebuds with the chocolate, sending warmth throughout her.

"Thanks Nico, it was sweet of you."

She met Nicos eyes for a second before he looked away again. He gave her a little nod before slipping into the shadows and disappearing.

Annabeth made her way to Percy's bed again, setting the mug on the table next to Percy's bed after taking a second sip.

She felt drowsy, her eyes sipping shut, and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell into dreams.

 _"_ Annabeth _?" She heard the voice distantly calling her. It sounded like Nico, but that couldn't be, he had only just left her cabin."Annabeth. Open your eyes."_

 _She opened her eyes, seeing nothing but blank space, emptiness for miles around. She scanned the horizon, her eyes landing on a figure in the distance. She approached cautiously, wishing she had her bronze knife with her._

 _When she reached the figure, she let out a strangled sob._

 _"Percy?!"_

 _He turned around, his green eyes sparkling as his lips curved into a smile. She took in every inch of him, his blue hoodie, his jeans, his sneakers, his charismatic smile, his wind tousled hair, his beautifully tanned skin._

 _"Wize Girl!" He opened his arms, as she ran into them for a hug. He smoothed her hair, tangling through the knots. He kissed Annabeth's forehead and she let her eyes snap shut while she was safe in his embrace._

 _She felt silent sobs rake through her, but she couldn't cry, her eyes refused to let her._

 _"Gods, Seaweed Brain, where have you been?" She cried into his chest, not letting go of the thin fabric of his blue hoodie._

 _He circled his fingers on her back, his breathing shallow. "I don't know, I-I've been dreaming for a long while, kinda thought I was dead."_

 _Annabeth took a breath in, his salty-ocean smell with the hint of Mrs. Jackson's cookies. The smell had never before been so soothing._

 _"I've missed you." she whispered. "How are you here right now?"_

 _"No one would ever_ really _separate us Annabeth, you 'ought to know that."_

 _Annabeth took in a few shallow breaths, wanting to stay in his embrace forever, never letting go, never worrying about losing him ever again._

 _"Go to sleep, I'll watch over you." Percy urged her, making the two of them sit on the ground. Annabeth curled up in his chest, letting her eyes fall shut for a split second before she opened them and said, "You'll still be here when I open them again?" Her voice was very uneven, wavering from the fear of losing him again._

 _"I'm always with you Annabeth, I always am." His voice was gentle, but it seemed to waver as well._

 _Annabeth stared into his sea-green eyes, taking in every bit of them. He gave her the lopsided grin that she had come to love over the years that she knew him._

 _"Okay Seaweed Brain." She said, some of the humor returning to her heart, seeping through her veins. Percy draped his hoodie around her and she clutched it tightly._

 _He put his lips to her ear and whispered, "Sleep tight Wize girl." before her eyes fell shut, and she felt herself being lifted, weightlessly, out of his arms._

OoOoOoO

Annabeth opened her eyes, blinking as the sunlight beamed straight at them. She looked at the alarm clock, 8:45.

Annabeth sat upright, looking around the room. She was back in Percy's bed, the no longer hot-hot chocolate sitting at the bedside. She looked down, to a blue hoodie, the one Percy was wearing in her dream... But if she was holding the hoodie, then Percy was alive. Annabeth took in a shaky breath, her seaweed brain was alive. _Really Alive._

Annabeth lay back, pulling the hoodie to her face, breathing in the smell. Tears pricked at the edges of her eyes, but she knew he was alive now, she had hope. Annabeth lay there for awhile, just thinking about her Percy, her Seaweed Brain, her beautiful boyfriend who she loved more than anything.

Annabeth rolled out of bed, her toes touching the floor. She slipped on the sweatshirt, without a question in her mind. She pulled on black leggings that she'd left on the dresser along with sneakers.

Annabeth went to the door of the cabin, smiling as she left it.

OoOoO

Nico's POV:

Nico watched her walk out of the cabin, beaming. It brought a lightness to him, and a slight bit of anger. Nico tried to tell himself he was over Percy, tried to tell himself to forget everything that he felt when he looked at the greed eyed boy.

Nico watched her as she hugged Malcom in greeting and smirked at Clarisse, who stopped in her tracks to see if there was someone behind her that Annabeth was gesturing to.

Nico felt the twinge of pride as she told Chiron what she saw in her dream. Nico had been the one to find Percy in dreams, and with one dose of sleeping medicine hidden in a mug of hot chocolate, Nico connected the two of them.

For some reason, Nico could _manipulate_ dreams. He could send heavy sleep to people already in REM, he could enter other people's dreams, and he could redirect the flow of someone's dreams as well.

As the horn blew, signalling the beginning of the day's schedule, Nico jogged off to swordfighting. When he was there, Annabeth lead the instruction, a smile on her face the entire time. For the first time, Nico couldn't find one reason to hate her. He actually felt a bit of a connection with her. She had fallen for the green eyed devil as well, so maybe she wasn't that different from him after all.

OoOoOoO

 **Shiiki, I hope I did a good job. Again, I apologize for it being released so late. Happy New years present I guess.**

 **I cannot wait for your next installment of the PJO series in Annabeth's POV. And I absolutely love that I had the opportunity to write something that you like to read! :)**

 **till next time.**

 **Strawberry xoxoxo**


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